Point-of-sale or point-of-purchase, in-store display fixtures commonly are used as a way of presenting merchandise for display to prospective purchasers. Typically, such display fixtures or display units are comprised of vertically oriented standards or uprights supported by a base member and braces. The uprights ordinarily support, in cantilever fashion, shelves or horizontally disposed shelf supports. Some known display units include a substantially rectangular grid or framework which not only structurally supports the unit, but also carries shelves.
Merchandisers predominately utilize in-store advertizing or informational displays to promote their products. Such promotional items take the form of graphic displays, such as banners, headpieces and other printed materials, suspended by various means either adjacent to or attached to the product display fixtures. Often these graphic display units require extensive "in-store" assembly and construction or are self-standing units which can interfere both with customer flow or with the display of the products themselves. Systems which require in-store construction often either require tools for assembly or are not readily assembled by temporary or unskilled labor that typically are utilized by some merchandising outlets to perform such tasks. Consequently the labor costs for assembling and installing prior display units increase if skilled labor is required or even if unskilled labor is used, since more time is required for assembly.
Additionally, these known promotional displays typically are made for a single graphics item only, and must be discarded or removed when the new material or promotional item is advertised. It is thus believed that a need exists for a graphics display unit, such as the modular valance assembly of the present invention, which is designed for "pre-site assembly", and so readily can be mounted onto existing in-store product display fixtures, being positioned for maximum customer viewing and minimum interference with customer flow and product presentation.